riding Skills: Using the Rear Brake (Sport Rider)

[CtrlAltDl]

Not a bad article. I find most of my braking techniques come from my dirt bike riding.

I usually use both together. When I'm driving straight and I'm not in rain, hail, or snow (yea it happens sometimes) I use mostly my front brake but also use my rear too. If it is slick conditions I use most if not all rear brake.

If I'm coming in a little too hot on a corner I usually push harder on the rear brake with little or no front brake. My reasoning for that is if you lock up the rear it will cause over-steer (which is usually good), but locking up the front would cause it to under-steer. You never chop the throttle in that situation, which is exactly what you will do if your panicking. In fact I have had a couple instances that more throttle has helped by sliding the rear a little to actually help "steer" into the corner. Of course that is pretty aggressive driving and I wouldn't recommend it unless your on a track. ;-)

 

[mchury]

if you think about it your front brake is 80% of your breaking power. Reason being you have 2 rotors and calipers instead of one set like the back. If your front brake feels weaker than your back, you need to look into that bro.

 

[rr_double_rr]

I use the rears when I am just doing normal traffic slowdowns, but start with the rear and finish with the front for lights and stopped traffic. Panic stops get a good bit of both just to keep traction and keep it straight.

 

[sammy56]

Wow!! There are some really bad habits noted in this thread....and bad advice for some newbies out there.
Any newbs reading this thread, please just read a real book on how to ride and use the brakes effectively. Better yet, take MSF and ask your instructors on best braking techniques.

LB

 

[hattrickhero]

I took the MSF course and the Harley-Davidson Rider's Edge Academy of Motorcycling course and they wanted us to use the front and rear brake equally. It is a safe and stable way to stop your bike, but does take practice to learn to use effectively. practice, practice, practice.

 

[e.blackadder]

I took the MSF course and the Harley-Davidson Rider's Edge Academy of Motorcycling course and they wanted us to use the front and rear brake equally. It is a safe and stable way to stop your bike, but does take practice to learn to use effectively. practice, practice, practice.

Cruisers are different from sport bikes. Because of the center of gravity, weight and wheelbase, under heavy braking you can transfer all weight of a sport bike onto the front wheel and pull a stoppie. Cruisers are more planted and come frequently with just a single disc up front and beefier rear brake.

I’m assuming cruisers is what you get on a HD riders’ course.

You can find lots good info at the Motorcycle Safety Site: Motorcycle Safety Site.

 

[redwing-2001]

Cruisers are different from sport bikes. Because of the center of gravity, weight and wheelbase, under heavy braking you can transfer all weight of a sport bike onto the front wheel and pull a stoppie. Cruisers are more planted and come frequently with just a single disc up front and beefier rear brake.

I’m assuming cruisers is what you get on a HD riders’ course.

You can find lots good info at the Motorcycle Safety Site: Motorcycle Safety Site.

actually it is a Buell Blast in the RE New Riders Course - not really a cruiser.
What is supposed to be taught in any MSF Basic Course including the Riders Edge version is to get in the habit of using both brakes all the time. We should go over the effects of weight shift, explain front brake "firm progressive squeeze" to stop quicker and make the new rider aware of using less pressure on the rear brake as the weight shift occurs to avoid a rear wheel lock-up.
At least that is the way I approach it when I teach these courses.

 

[Detrich]

as i've been learning to ride canyons, i've been told by more experienced riders to practice ignoring the rear in the twisties... the main 2 reasons that they gave for it are 1) to properly lock your heel into position on the peg, you need to ride on the balls of your feet- not the arch and not the heel, and 2) the rear wheel locks faster during tight turns...

any thoughts on this?

as i've been practicing, i can see that for super sport riders- only because their pegs are further back than ours. but, for the 6r, i think we can get away with "lazier" foot peg position. on the street i still brake with both though... on canyons i move my feet back a bit to get into the locked position.

 

[dart1963]

as i've been learning to ride canyons, i've been told by more experienced riders to practice ignoring the rear in the twisties... the main 2 reasons that they gave for it are 1) to properly lock your heel into position on the peg, you need to ride on the balls of your feet- not the arch and not the heel, and 2) the rear wheel locks faster during tight turns...

any thoughts on this?

as i've been practicing, i can see that for super sport riders- only because their pegs are further back than ours. but, for the 6r, i think we can get away with "lazier" foot peg position. on the street i still brake with both though... on canyons i move my feet back a bit to get into the locked position.

I've drug my toe when using the "lazier" position on an on-ramp... keep them toes up... however.... you should be done braking by that time... so using the rear brake to help set up the bike is useful. If you're all front, the bike is going to dive into every turn, if you use the rear brake more to set the bike up than for braking, then you'd be fine.... really personal preference and probably not one way or the other better. You can also use the rear brake to knock off some speed without upsetting the bike during a turn, but that takes skill that most of us do not have and we should already have our speed set coming in anyway.

Straight street, everyone should know how to use that thing to get the bike stopped quickly (and hence the philosophy of always using it to get into the habit and know the correct pressure to apply) .... it could save you xx ft stopping distance in an emergency stop, and that could be the difference between stopping short, or winding up in someone else's back seat.

 

[ninjavillain]

i mostly use the rear brake. When I use the front brake by itself it feels weak like it isn't doing anything at all hardly, it isn't until I get some good rear brake in there that I can really feel the bike squat down and come to a stop. Although in most situations I just use the rear brake, and on the freeway I just use less/close the throttle up and let the engine compression slow me down as needed. I learned a few things I've been testing out from the article though, good read for a novice.

this could be the same problem I had. The bike was not built right. Make sure on both front calipers there is a pad on each side of the disk. If not the caliper wall doesn't work well as a break. if the pads are not separated by the disk go to the dealer immediately. B1tch them out cause that's a safety issue. The should fix for free and some.

 

[Sander Koop]

Oh don't get me wrong, I use my front brake plenty... it's very strong - especially as the weight transfers from the rear of the bike to the front as the stop progresses.

I guess I'm just extra paranoid about accidentally lifting my rear tire by over-braking with the front wheel :don'tknow:

You'd have to brake pretty drastically to stoppie the bike accidentally - as a rule, front brake for getting rid of speed, add a bit of rear to level the bike, and when stopping, let go of the front completely before you come to a halt...

The rear brake on a bike is more for controlling your deceleration than stopping power - that's why it's only one disc and usually a single piston as well!

 

[Sander Koop]

I use the rears when I am just doing normal traffic slowdowns, but start with the rear and finish with the front for lights and stopped traffic. Panic stops get a good bit of both just to keep traction and keep it straight.

Wrong way round, that - means the bike dives when you're coming to a stop? Not recommended... Start with the front and finish with the rear!

 

[BoneJj]

Wrong way round, that - means the bike dives when you're coming to a stop? Not recommended... Start with the front and finish with the rear!

I disagree with your methods, I always put a little back first to get the rear to squat and then hit the front. It just works better in my experience, I can get a much shorter stop in if needed and it just works...

Plus every instructor I have dealt with for track racing or even general riding has said pretty much the same thing and I have seen the differences in how it works on tracks during all the demonstrations I've seen.

 

[SurfJunkie]

This should all work good and well assuming you:
1. don't have the clutch pulled in.
2. aren't down shifting while applying rear break. ( again, pulling the clutch in while applying rear break = VERY easy to lock up. ) Modulation using the foot is a little difficult to tell exactly how much pressure you have on the lever. Especially in full gear/boots and a major panic situation.

 

[Chevyfazer]

The rear brake is very useful on the track or the twisties If you know what your doing!!! Its called backing it in Check this out http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/News/newsresults/videos/2011/January/jan3111-video-how-to-back-it-in/

Che

 

[Sander Koop]

I disagree with your methods, I always put a little back first to get the rear to squat and then hit the front. It just works better in my experience, I can get a much shorter stop in if needed and it just works...

Plus every instructor I have dealt with for track racing or even general riding has said pretty much the same thing and I have seen the differences in how it works on tracks during all the demonstrations I've seen.

Weird - I have been taught the way I described, by every instructor I have ever dealt with - front only, front + back, back only - dive, level, stop...?

 

[WorldLavish]

The number one advice that I always get as a new rider is to never use the front brake. I always start of with the rear break and apply the front if needed.

Great Article!

 

[Chevyfazer]

The number one advice that I always get as a new rider is to never use the front brake. I always start of with the rear break and apply the front if needed.

Great Article!

If someone gave me that advice as to never use the front brake I don't think I would ever listen to anything from them again

 

[Fizzer6R]

The number one advice that I always get as a new rider is to never use the front brake. I always start of with the rear break and apply the front if needed.

Great Article!

be very careful of this, you may train your reactions on this method and find yourself in a panic situation locking up the rear. no one is saying to ham-fist the front brake, but it is the one to use most simply because it stops you faster than rear - it's about a 2:1 ratio stronger and will stop the bike in half the distance

 

[Chevyfazer]

be very careful of this, you may train your reactions on this method and find yourself in a panic situation locking up the rear. no one is saying to ham-fist the front brake, but it is the one to use most simply because it stops you faster than rear - it's about a 2:1 ratio stronger and will stop the bike in half the distance

Couldn't have said it better, IMHO I think new riders get intimidated by their body surging forward when using the front so they end up using the rear instead